Polish Festival Brings Big Crowds

Photo by Betty Stiles Poland’s International Children’s Day, hosted by the Beach 116th Street Partnership, attracted thousands of people to Rockaway’s “Main Street” last Sunday, June 1.

The inaugural festival was full of free attractions for children; face painting, bounce castles, a petting zoo, slides, a rock climbing wall brought in by the 100th Precinct Community Council, crafts for kids, live music and plenty of pierogi.

“The event went off without a hitch”, said Krzysztof Sadlej, the executive director of the Beach 116th Street Partnership. “We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the 100th Precinct. The NYPD did a stellar job keeping the festival clean and safe for all of our guests.”

Kids climb the giant rock wall. Photo by Betty Stiles The event was attended by the Vice Consul from the office of the General Consul of the Republic of Poland in New York, Alicja Tunk. The support of the General Consulate and Community Board 14 were instrumental in getting the event off the ground.

The Beach 116th Street Partnership hopes that this inaugural festival is the first of many more events to come, serving the community and bringing more guests to Beach 116th Street.

“Many of the visitors the day of the festival were from other communities: Greenpoint, Ridgewood and even New Jersey and Connecticut. All of them were welcomed and many were seeing our wonderful community for the first time,” said festival director, Mark Mina.

The Wianek Polish Folk Dance Troupe gets ready to perform. Photo by Laurel Deckelman
The petting zoo was a big hit. Photo by Laurel Deckelman
Lana Meli, the owner of Lana’s Loft, was one of the local businesses that took part in the event. Photo by Laurel Deckelman
The Beach 116th Street Partnership tent was busy all day. Photo by Laurel Deckelman